Bruce Campbell's role in Sam Raimi's original film The Evil Dead was career-defining, so how does Campbell feel about the current remake by director Fede Alvarez? Luckily, the man behind the famous chin had nothing but good things to say about the film. He also talked about what fans could expect, differences between the remake and the original and whether or not he would be making a cameo appearance.
The Evil Dead remake, starring Jane Levy, Jessica Lucas, Shiloh Fernandez, Elizabeth Blackmore and Lou Taylor Pucci, debuts April 12th of next year. Hit the jump to see what Campbell had to say, and click here to read what Raimi himself told us about the "so bloody it will make your head spin" remake.
Campbell recently spoke to Digital Spy (via CBM) about The Evil Dead remake. We only knew snippets of the plot before, so here's a recap: Levy plays the main character, who is going through drug withdrawal. Lucas plays a nurse, while Blackmore will play the fiancée of Fernandez’s character and a newcomer to the group of five friends who hole up in a cabin in the woods. So how different will the remake be from the original? As Campbell puts it:
"There's none of the original characters. We didn't want to compare apples with apples. It's a contemporary movie - just like Evil Dead was contemporary in 1979, this is contemporary for young adults now. It's basically five new kids who are going to have a really bad night with a brand new director - Fede Alvarez, who was handpicked by Sam Raimi. I've seen it already; I think it's definitely fabulous."
Campbell is also tuned in to the rabid fanbase that has kept The Evil Dead in the conversation all these years. Here's what he has to say about being loyal to the fanbase:
"We're really excited and really behind it, [but] it's going to take a bit to get the Evil Dead fans behind it. We know we've pissed a lot of them off. We appreciate that and we appreciate their anger and their zeal, but the only thing we want to impress upon them is that we didn't screw it up. This is going to be just as memorable as [the original] Evil Dead without being the same movie"
Campbell also commented on the current spate of remakes and reboots:
"You don't want to remake something shot-for-shot. I can't believe they remade Psycho - what the hell kind of a waste of celluloid is that? It's a creative medium.
"The nice thing is the film looks beautiful. The effects are 10 times better than we ever had access to and the actors are all better than we were in 1979. Though granted Sam Raimi is a mad genius, so we got a crazy result like Evil Dead out of this amateur enthusiasm sort of thing."
Finally, Campbell fielded the question on whether or not he'll be making a cameo or ever starring as Ash in a future remake:
"I'm not at liberty to discuss that. But the thing is we want it to be a standalone movie. You're going to have some references [to the original] in there and there's going to be things the fans will enjoy as far as familiar aspects, but it's a whole new ball game."
"I'll be honest with you, I don't know if I could - the last one was 1991. I was a virile young man; I'm 54 years old now so I'm not sure 54-year-old guys need to be doing that s**t anymore. But if Sam wants to lace the boots back on and do something that makes sense, that's fine. We may need to do the movie one day, if our careers fly off the tracks and we crash and burn, we might look at each other and go 'Let's make an Evil Dead movie'!"
Be sure to head over to Digital Spy for the full interview and keep an eye here for more news on The Evil Dead remake now that it's wrapped production.
